Callie was staring at the man in the black cloth covering hard. Her eyes were hard and cold as permafrost as they bored into the dark form. "So that was what? Some kind of test? You ATTACK my boyfriend just so see what I would do about it? Because if that's the kind of place this is we have no interest in staying. We have enough to worry about dealing with our enemies, we don't need attacks coming from our allies too." Her teeth were gritted as she hissed out the words, her voice dripping with barely controlled rage.

The figure of The Nothing raised it's hands. Apologies. It was a necessary deception. You know better than I how much of hypocrite he is. Research wasn't trustworthy when it came to you. It was far too likely that your might be hiding your true self like he does. That said, he would never attack someone two ranks higher than he was for the sake of a loved one, much less one that wasn't even actually hurt. I'll be happy to compensate your boyfriend for any distress I might have caused, Calliope, and I apologize for the necessity of my deception. I assure you, neither of you were in any danger."

The irony of him saying that, not knowing he'd almost been...hell, who knew how Zeke would have killed him, but whatever had almost happened to him wouldn't have been pleasant. I stepped up to put a hand on her shoulder, and I felt the muscle under my fingers relax as she allowed herself to unclench once she knew I was safe. "Fine. Let's say, for the sake of argument, that I buy that. How the hell do you know my name? It's incredibly bad form to dig into someone's civilian life like that."

He let out a deep, rumbling chuckle. "Of course I know your name, little girl. I was there when your mother picked it out. Amelia always enjoyed the old stories, and Paul was willing to agree to anything that sounded pretentious." His voice was wistful, though there was an undercurrent of bitterness to it that I wasn't really sure how to read.

Callie's eyes narrowed. "Ok, that's it. Who the fuck are you? I knew you might have known my dad, but knowing my name, my mothers name, all of that is a step too far. If you really are just his nemesis then I'm seriously disturbed by how much research you've done. I'm absolutely not willing to let some E ranked asshole run around with complete knowledge of my loved ones without some explanation, especially not one with a grudge. Even if I'm sure it's deserved."

There was a shifting in the bandages, and they all slid away, exposing the face of...a guy. Not a guy I knew. Black hair, blue eyes, strong jaw. The usual. Callie looked like she was about to fucking explode when she saw his face, so I decided to take her mind off it the best way I knew how. "It's you!" I gasped dramatically, pointing right at the now unmasked man in the robe.

It was so out of nowhere, even Callie, who had been about to have a meltdown, paused and turned to look at me quizically. "You...you know him?" Her voice sounded uncertain, and a little guarded, which made me curious as to who the hell this guy was. But luckily it was only a bit of hesitation. She wasn't actually suspicious of me.

I just shrugged. "No. But that was such a dramatic reveal moment I assumed whoever he is, he must be someone shocking. Plus, I figured it would be harder for you to be angry or upset if you were confused at my nonsense." I shrugged widely. She just stopped, staring at me and blinking dumbly for a second, before finally dissolving in a wave of giggles, laughing so hard she almost fell over as she planted her hands on her knees. There was a slight hysterical edge to the laughter, but at the very least she wasn't having a panic attack. After a minute she finally calmed down and stood up again.

She stepped up to me and kissed the cheek of my mask. "Never change sweetie. The reason by the way, that I freaked out, is that my the man standing over there looks literally identical to my father. With a second to actually think about it, I'm positive it's NOT him. Just the brief interactions we've had with him make it unlikely. For one thing my father would never speak ill of himself, even as a deception. He values his reputation too much to allow anything to sully it, even if doing so would benefit him in some way."

The man laughed. "Yes, that does sound like Paul. My name is Alexander Reynolds. I'm your Uncle. Paul is my identical twin brother. One of the reasons I cover my face. Partly to avoid being associated with that bastard, and partly because people are idiots and one out of every pair of Ascendant twins always gets typecast as the evil one. Since Paul already has a reputation as a hero and is a member of the Unity, I'd have to deal with all that evil twin recursion. Easier to just keep the whole thing a secret to avoid the hassle. "

I felt my jaw hang open, but then I thought about it. I...kind of did expect one twin to be evil. In fact, evil twin was the first thing that popped into my head when he told us his identity. Callie recovered faster than I did. "Ok. That's...big. Not sure how it matters here though. Why would you invite me here? Is there some kind of problem you need help with?" Her voice was shaky and uncertain, and I could see this information had shaken her deeply. I didn't blame her. She'd wrapped lots of her identity up in her dad, even if it was negative, and finding out he had a twin brother must be wild.

The Nothing, or rather, Alexander, gestured for both of us to sit down. I realized he'd managed to nullify Callie's shadows perfectly earlier, protecting not just himself, but the desk he sat at as well. Callie looked like she might protest, but finally decided to take her seat, gesturing for us to do the same. It was a testament to how much she hated her dad that I was pretty sure she had to actively resist the urge to refuse to sit just because this guy looked like him.

Once we were seated Alexander leaned back, steepling his fingers. "To answer your questions, no. I have nothing I need help with. Rather, I heard you were poking around down here and simply wanted to warn off any of the other forces who might take an unhealthy interest. The Beast Lord Garden and Sanctuary Hall have lots of theoretical power, but they aren't exactly considered scary. Which is stupid because the Peace Lord is a monster, and fighting Melinda is the same as battling a pair of E rankers at the same time. Still, I won't deny that they're far from the biggest threats down here. My interest in you serves to dissuade some of the cockier forces, or some of the newer E rankers who haven't seen them cut loose."

We nodded. It was easy for people to underestimate support powers. Having literally the ultimate support power, and a teammate with one that was only slightly less amazing, I was well aware of that phenomena. Callie opened her mouth to speak, then paused before she finally responded. "That's...kind of you. But how did you even get here? You and my father clearly don't get along, but you've been in Rajak much longer. Hell, why bother hiding your face in the first place for all those years before he showed up."

Alexander averted his eyes in discomfort. "Well, for one thing, I've always preferred full coverage. Just as a matter of principle, it provides better protection. For another I didn't want my face being used to track down my family. I may not like Paul, but I don't want him dead." He paused. "Ok, that's not entirely truthful, I often want him dead, but I'm aware that it's a bell I can't unring. Plus he has you and your brother, and despite what you may think, losing a parent isn't anything I want my niece and nephew to endure. As for how I got here? I had someone in the WCP who owed me a favor. They have their own channels. Once Paul and Amelia got married...well, Velan didn't feel as welcoming, so I left before you were born."

Callie's face was a mask of confusion and warring emotions. I could vaguely guess what her mind was spinning on. The idea of another person who might have been there to help make their lives easier, someone to keep her father in check. But even upset she was smarter than I ever was. She calmed down pretty quickly. I supposed she must have seen some of his reasons for not staying, even if I didn't. Well, aside from the obvious pain in his voice when he mentioned her mother's name.

She stayed silent for a minute or two before sighing. "So...what now? I know who you are, and apparently you're scary enough that we'll be left alone by most people. Are you going to extend me an invitation to join your faction now?" Her voice was light, but I could sense a tension in her as she asked the question. I wasn't actually sure how she was feeling about this, and I couldn't tell if she was either, but however she was feeling, it was obviously important to her.

He shrugged. "I can. If you like. I'd be happy to teach you. I've spent years honing my ability, and I know plenty about it that would allow you to increase your abilities with it exponentially. Hell, you probably don't even have the Shadow Manipulation Mastery Skill based on what I just saw. Until your manipulation abilities reach at least the Minor level you're going to be losing out on more than a little power efficiency."

Callie froze. "Wait...Shadow Manipulation can become a SKILL? I mean...I guess anything can become a Skill, but I hadn't really considered it to that level. Does that mean all my training and effort has been so sloppy and ill defined it doesn't even rate a Minor Skill designation? That's..." She look devastated, and I couldn't blame her. She had put so much work into her ability, and finding out there was a literal Skill that defined how well she was progressing and she didn't have it yet must have been rough.

Still, she collected herself quickly. "But no. Thank you for that information, but I want to step out of his shadow, no pun intended. Taking shelter in yours so I can beat him isn't a solution. If you were able to beat him then you would have already. You two are probably pretty close in strength. I can do this on my own, or at least my team and I can. I appreciate the good intentions though." She stood up, clearly needing to get out of here and process this. "I'll pass your regards to my mother." And with that, she turned and fled the room.

I gave him a nod and chased after her, Jessie hot on my heels. This had been a huge day for Callie, and I didn't like the idea of her running around in that condition. She was clearly too upset to think straight. As I gained on her I wondered about everything we'd been told today. Eventually though, I put it out of my head and focused on triggering Seek Hidden to track down my girlfriend. However she wanted to handle this, I needed to find her first. Then we could have a long talk about all this. I had a feeling aside from venting, she had some wishes she would need granted. I was happy to oblige.